RED BANK – Resident Carol Sullivan Schulte is encouraging the Parkinson’s community to learn about the potential benefits of exercise.
Working with the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation (PDF) and nearby health-care professionals, she is hosting an educational forum, Parkinson’s Disease and Exercise: How to Improve Your Daily Quality of Life, from 9:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, June 5, at the Tower Hill Presbyterian Church in Red Bank.
Schulte has been active in the Parkinson’s cause since her own diagnosis in 1996. In 2010, she completed an intensive three-day training to join PDF’s Parkinson’s Advocates in Research program. Her work with the program to speed new treatments for Parkinson’s includes community education about clinical trials. The exercise enthusiast is particularly passionate about research into exercise as a therapy for Parkinson’s.
She has arranged for local experts, including Dr. Margery H. Mark of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, to discuss how exercise can help manage Parkinson’s symptoms and the different types of programs available locally. Topics to be discussed include personalized physical therapy programs and resistance training for strength gains.
“I’m offering this forum to show the people in my community living with Parkinson’s how they can be more proactive in improving their daily living. Even if it’s just sitting in a wheelchair lifting weights, or walking around the block, you have to keep at it. Parkinson’s is not the death sentence we all think it is,” Schulte said.
Robin Elliott, executive director of PDF, said: “We are inspired by PDF Research Advocates like Ms. Schulte who strive to educate people with Parkinson’s not only about research but on ways to enhance day-to-day life with Parkinson’s. She is a key partner in PDF’s mission to support the research and ideas that will improve the lives and futures of people touched by Parkinson’s.”
For more information about Schulte’s exercise forum or the PAIR program, please contact PDF at (800) 457-6676, info@pdf.org or www.pdf.org.
To register for the Parkinson’s Disease and Exercise, contact Schulte at 732-530-8032. The cost is $20 per person or $30 for a person with Parkinson’s and their caregiver. Lunch is included. The event is also sponsored by Meridian Health, Medtronic and Heritage House Sotheby’s International Realty.
